This is the most popular tweet for the week of November 6, 2011.
DRUNK HULK DEBATE FAIL!
1
DRUNK HULK: FACT OF MATTER IS YOU BETTER HAVE BEER GLASS THAT DRUNK HULK CAN GET HAND AROUND! AND THAT REASON WHY DRUNK HULK BAR TAB ONLY ONE OF ALL FOLK! THESE GOOD FOLK ON STOOL HERE! THAT NEED BE PAY BY 2020! AND DRUNK HULK TELL YOU! THERE THREE THING HERE WHEN DRUNK HULK OWN BAR THAT ARE GONE! THAT Q*BERT GAME! PORK RINDS! AND — WHAT THIRD ONE THERE? LET SEE!
Ron Paul: We’re talking about government agencies. You need five.
DRUNK HULK: OH! FIVE! OK! SO Q*BERT! PORK RINDS! AND…
(Unknown): MGD?
DRUNK HULK: MGD! THERE YOU GO!
Moderator: Seriously, is MGD the one you were talking about? The beer?
DRUNK HULK: NO SIR! NO SIR! DRUNK HULK TALK ABOUT THING IN BAR – MGD NEED GO! THERE NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT!
Moderator: But you can’t — but you can’t name the third one? And do you realize where you are, sir?
DRUNK HULK: THIRD THING IN BAR DRUNK HULK WOULD – DRUNK HULK DO AWAY WITH Q*BERT…
Moderator: Pork Rinds.
DRUNK HULK: PORK RINDS AND! LET SEE! DRUNK HULK NO…THIRD ONE! DRUNK HULK NO KNOW! SORRY! OOP!
Drunk Hulk’s Andy Rooney Tweet!
2
You ever notice tweets?
When I posted the Andy Rooney tweet over the weekend, the last thing I expected was that it would have the legs it did. I wasn’t worried about the tweet being too soon (I honestly don’t think there’s such a thing), but in terms of how young the Drunk Hulk audience skews, I wasn’t sure if an Andy Rooney/60 Minutes reference was going to get much of a response.
As it turns out, the tweet is now the second most popular Drunk Hulk tweet of all time (according to favstar). If we were to measure it in terms of retweets, it would be #1. That’s pretty astounding.
Much like the Gaddafi tweet, I’m willing to bet that a lot of this had to do with timing. But I’d rather think that people responded to the tweet because they recognized that we lost someone special, someone who made us think, and someone who had become a weekly institution in his own right. As a kid, I didn’t find 60 Minutes to be exciting television when I watched it with my parents, but even I paid attention when Rooney had his few minutes. Considering the often depressing and heavy stories 60 Minutes tackled, Rooney was the show’s much needed silver lining. He was the guy who reminded us that we were going to be all right.
And that’s the kind of guy we need more of these days. On television. Online. Everywhere.
Because it is going to be all right.
Good night, Andy Rooney.
DRUNK HULK HAD 99!
1
“THERE 99 BEER ON WALL! BUT THEY KEEP TAKE THEM DOWN! AND PASS THEM ALL AROUND! NOW THERE NO MORE BEER! ON WALL! OR ANY PLACE! DRUNK HULK HAD 99!”
Reactions to Drunk Hulk’s Gaddafi Tweet
1
This is a chronological look at the reactions to Drunk Hulk’s Gaddafi tweet. I’ve seen this happen before in previous tweets, but this was pretty overwhelming in terms to how everyone reacted to the news coming from Drunk Hulk.
Check it out. I think you might be surprised by this. I’m confident that there’s a PhD paper here that’s begging to be written.
shlevy Shea Levy
How is it that this is how I learned this happened? RT@DRUNKHULK: GADDAFI DEAD! NO COOL! DRUNK HULK JUST FIGURE OUT HOW SPELL HIS NAME!
TheCaleStephens Cale Stephens
Is it bad I get my breaking news from @DRUNKHULK ?
pfreet pfreet
@keithmcgreggor Funny, the first mention of said breaking news in my twitter stream was from @DRUNKHULK
glenericreed Glen Eric Reed
Okay, I just learned major news from a @DRUNKHULK retweet by@NoReservations … has it really come to this?
lydia69 Diane M. Martin
I have no idea what it says about me but I just found out about Gadhafi’s death from a tweet by @DRUNKHULK
CoachZuckerman Jay Zuckerman
Two weeks ago, I was not on Twitter & relied on the news to keep me up to date. Now I first learn of Gadhafi’s capture through@Drunkhulk.
deanBarry Dean Adlington
@glenericreed: Okay, I just learned major news from a@DRUNKHULK retweet by @NoReservations … has it really come to this?”. ME TOO!!!
damndilettante Jason Lord
It’s a sign of the times that I first learned of the death of major world figure from @DRUNKHULK.
paulidin Paul Roth
I almost feel like I’d get the breaking news just as fast on twitter via@DRUNKHULK alone.
kanessie Karen Glass
OK, I’m not sure if I can be comfortable hearing major news from@DRUNKHULK before @BBCBreaking. #bravenewworld. ?
BATMANassistant batman’s assistant
Pretty amazing and funny that the @DRUNKHULK reported that Gaddhafi died before any major news source
HCoppinger Hope Coppinger
I’m afraid I may have just learned important international news from@drunkhulk. While I’m grateful, I’m also deeply concerned.
pillarofsalt pillarofsalt
Kinda fucked up to hear about major news stories from satire accounts; @DeathStarPR was the first Steve Jobs tweeter,@DRUNKHULK Gaddafi.
monokero Iris
How I found out Gaddafi is dead: @DRUNKHULK tweeted about it. Not sure what this says about me.
pattychase919 Patty Chase
Finding out important world news from @DRUNKHULK is pretty weird.
teacheyd Daniel Teachey
True story: I first heard about Qaddafi’s death on twitter… from@DRUNKHULK. What a world…
dday515 dday515
so @DRUNKHULK just informed me that gadhafi is dead. This is the world I live in.
heldermira Helder Mira
“@DRUNKHULK: GADDAFI DEAD! NO COOL! DRUNK HULK JUST FIGURE OUT HOW SPELL HIS NAME!” Again; this is how I receive breaking news.
Kat_in_NY Kat_in_NY
What does it say about the world if I learned about Gadhafi’s death from @DRUNKHULK?
joe_is_tweeting joe stephan
I really need to change my morning surfing order. @DRUNKHULKshould not be where I get breaking Gadhafi’s death news.
chambo_SF Michael Chamberlin
Amazingly, story broken by @DRUNKHULK: GADDAFI DEAD! NO COOL! DRUNK HULK JUST FIGURE OUT HOW SPELL HIS NAME!
jason_sims Jason Sims
Just had major world news broken to me earlier by @DRUNKHULK.#WhyILoveTwitter
tjsander Travis J. Sanders
Can’t believe I found out that Qaddafi died from @drunkhulk
DeanDMX Dean Mayers
I found out about #gadaffi from @DRUNKHULK. I am ashamed. :/
vitriolick vitriolick
@Kat_in_NY you weren’t the only one learn about it from@DRUNKHULK first. Does that say more?
_mandolin amanda
I love how I found out Gaddafi died from @DRUNKHULK before@nytimes
RayS Ray Slakinski
@andersoncooper what @DRUNKHULK is not a valid source?!??!
impenn Mike Surette
I don’t know if it’s sad, or awesome, that in this era of media, I first got news of gadhafi from @DRUNKHULK
namon Namon Washington
RT @glenericreed: Okay, I just learned major news from a@DRUNKHULK retweet by @NoReservations … has it really come to this?
sarathelaundres Sara Wagner
I first learned about the rumors that Gadhafi was dead from@DRUNKHULK, is that a reflection on me? Or a reflection on society?
VultureAM Matthew Malone
I learned of the possibility of gadaffi’s death from @DRUNKHULKbefore any news outlet. There is something wrong with the internet
BrianGoodrich1 Brian Goodrich
Gaddafi is captured and possibly dead and @DRUNKHULK is the only one in my twitter feed to mention it thus far…what a world!
feemcbee Fee McBee
I love that I found out Gaddafi is dead from @DRUNKHULK
k_stocks Kevin
How the hell did I learn about Gaddafi’s death via @drunkhulk
Radioeatsbrain Kimber Price
Wait, did I just learn about big news via @DRUNKHULK ?
enosone A. Lima
Just so you know, I learned about Gaddafi’s death/capture from@drunkhulk and not #CNN or #BBC. Carry on.
seajo Chelsea
Years from now, I’m going to have to remember that I heard about Qaddafi’s death not from a credible news source but from@DRUNKHULK.
clever_cupcakes Clever Cupcakes
Nothing like getting world news from Twitter. The first I heard of #Gadhafi‘s death was from @DRUNKHULK.
VGFreak1225 Peter Schaper
The Twitter account that broke the news to me about Gadhafi was@DRUNKHULK. I don’t know if that says more about me or you guys.
mickathud Elaine K.
@ShakespeareGeek - I learned this from @DRUNKHULK. Hurray, Twitter-age!
mgcuthbert Michael Cuthbert
I just found out about Gadaffi’s death from @DRUNKHULK on twitter. Talk about alternate news source.
katekiefer Kate Kiefer
well, i found out about gaddafi from @drunkhulk.
helliemaes Helliemae’s Caramels
I just learned the #Gaddafi news from @DRUNKHULK. Ok @twitter, you’ve hit a new role in my world.
AdmTaptap Admiral Taptap
@DRUNKHULK I learned of his death from you. How cool/sad is that?
DauneRobinson Daune
RT @breakingnews: US official: Libyan leaders and @drunkhulkhave informed US that Moammar Gadhafi is dead – AP
xfloormattx Matt
@NotAlwaysNews @DRUNKHULK reported he was dead before most were confirming he was captured (on my feed).
hasBen Benjamin Brinkman
despite following multiple news sources, the first mention of Gaddafi in my Twitter feed this morning came from @DRUNKHULK
ohheyadanielle Danielle
I learned about #Gaddafi‘s death via @DRUNKHULK. Drunk Hulk: My newest source for world news! Thank’s Drunk Hulk!
acecuts Ace Cutshaw
I’m feeling very conflicted about the fact that I learned about Gaddafi’s death from @DRUNKHULK
The_Rhonda The Rhonda
I try to stay informed, yet I still receive first word of some important current events from @DRUNKHULK. Not sure if that’s sad or awesome.
roboxstudios David Pietrandrea
I find it wonderfully amusing that I learned Qaddafi had died from@DRUNKHULK
Kraemer Mark W Kraemer
This is the internet. I first heard about Qaddafi’s death from@DRUNKHULK
EvilChick Evil Chick
Will never forget I found out about Gaddafi’s dead from@DRUNKHULK
dasKroop matt krupa
Sign of the 21st century: I first heard news that Gaddafi was killed from @DrunkHulk
benp78 benp78
Raise your hand if you first heard about Gadaffi being killed this morning from @DRUNKHULK. What a surreal world we’re living in.
Bikeflu Josh
I will always remember October 20, 2011 as the day that Gaddafi was killed and I found out about it via @DRUNKHULK
AnitaN AnitaN
I found out Gadhafi was dead from @DRUNKHULK. I don’t know if this is social media at it’s best, or just personal failure.
Reflecting on Two Years of Drunk Hulk:
0
Today is the second birthday of Twitter’s Drunk Hulk. It was on this day two years ago when I finished writing a short story at Starbucks and on a whim checked to see if “drunkhulk” was available on Twitter. As I’ve explained in interviews before, my goal was to treat Drunk Hulk as the ginger between the sushi that’s my real writing; a light distraction from my heavier work. I had no idea that it would take on a life of its own and largely define my work for the next couple of years.
If you’re interested in the details regarding Drunk Hulk’s origin, you can read what I wrote last year when the feed turned one.
The Year in Review. This has been a nice year, certainly less hectic than the first year. One of the year’s highlights was making Time’s 140 Best Twitter Feeds and then making #21 in the reader poll (see left), beating out tweeters like Patton Oswald (what? really?) and Sarah Palin (yes!). That was enormously gratifying.
Other highlights include seeing more amazing Drunk Hulk cartoons by Beck, Mike Dawson drawing Drunk Hulk, being contacted by Comedy Central for the second time regarding a project (which fell through, but still, awesome!), talking about Drunk Hulk before a live audience, getting a shout out from Anthony Bourdain, Drunk Hulk making the now-defunct Peanutweeter, the Death Star PR interview, the UGO interview, Drunk Hulk telling Emma Stone his feelings (thanks, Jim Carrey!), and a ton more stuff I know I’m forgetting at the moment.
My Biggest Challenge was – and continues to be – getting readers to crossover from Drunk Hulk to my other work. Because I’m all over the map when it comes to my writing, it’s hard to find that happy medium. I can’t say, “Hey, if you like Drunk Hulk, maybe you’ll like this intensely disturbing horror story I wrote.” Or “If Drunk Hulk makes you laugh, try out this short story about Americans and violence.” Or, “If you like alcohol and humor, you’ll love my book Empty Rooms Lonely Countries when it’s not busy trying to make you cry.” You get the idea. It doesn’t work that way, sadly.
I created False Starts to give the people the funny, which has brought a crazy amount of traffic here (thanks to Neil Gaiman for helping me with that), but outside of the website, it’s a concept that simply doesn’t work. At least, that’s what agents and publishers have politely told me.
I’m currently working on a novel, a fast-paced horror thriller that’s as funny as it is dark, but again, it’ll probably be a hard sell when most readers only know me as Drunk Hulk. I mean, it’s the road trip, haunted house, zombie apocalypse, detective love story you’ve been waiting your whole life to read. Why wouldn’t you want to read that? My hope is to one day find a literary agent who can help me navigate and tell me what I need to do. Any takers? Seriously, I’m all ears.
Advice. I’ve received a lot of emails in the last year from people wanting advice on how to make a successful Twitter account, as if there was some secret to it. As far as I’m concerned, a lot of people have done it better and far more successfully than I have, and continue to do so. I’m still surprised to see the number of Drunk Hulk’s followers growing every day, still amazed to see that people are still discovering the feed. I thought that the joke would’ve gotten old by now, but people continue to respond positively to the big lug.
If you do want advice on how to do something like Drunk Hulk, the best I can offer you is the following: Did you think the idea through before you started? Does the concept have a good enough shelf life? Will you be able to have material that will last more than a week? A month? A year? Are you prepared to do the work? I ask these questions because I’ve noticed a lot of feeds start out with strong jokes but then they realize that there’s no where else to go. Or they post two tweets and give up because they didn’t get the response they were aiming for.
The thing to remember is that Drunk Hulk wasn’t an overnight sensation. It might look that way if you arrive to the BBQ late, sure, but Drunk Hulk took over a month to get 1,000 followers. A year to get 50,000. And almost two years to break 100,000. I’ve worked my ass off to get those numbers, and I feel like I’ve earned every one of them. I don’t take the numbers lightly either, as I’m completely aware that they could disappear at any moment. It’s an ongoing process and it requires work. If you’re not ready to do that, then there’s a good chance your feed isn’t going to go anywhere.
The lost Beck cartoon. Above is a Beck cartoon that I’m pretty sure never officially made its way online. It’s been the background for Drunk Hulk’s Twitter page and a lot of people have contacted me asking where they can see it. Well, here it is.
Answers to Commonly Asked Questions.
- Though Twitter only allows 140 characters, I never use more than 125.
- A Drunk Hulk book proposal was made and shopped around, and though several major publishers expressed interest,
their legal teamscommon sense won the day. - No, I’ve never been contacted by Marvel regarding Drunk Hulk.
- There is only one Drunk Hulk joke I made that will never see the light of day (it was so crass I couldn’t believe I wrote it).
- I haven’t made a single cent from Drunk Hulk.
- While I’m confident your website is amazing and your project is the Next Big Thing, I probably won’t post a link to it as Drunk Hulk.
- Drunk Hulk only follows one person: @PuffChrissy
- Yes, I really do live in Poland.
- 42.
- Here is the complete list of Drunk Hulk Interviews. And sure, he’s available for more.
- Drunk Hulk is no longer available Bar Mitzvahs. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Drunk Hulk for Halloween? I’ve gotten a couple of emails from people telling me that they’re going to be Drunk Hulk for Halloween. If you are, please consider sending me your pictures and, if you’ll let me, I’ll post them here.
Thanks. As always, I want to thank all of you for supporting Drunk Hulk. I really do appreciate all the feedback you’ve given me. Without your participation, I wouldn’t have this ridiculous platform to write and make jokes.
Thank you for reading.
DRUNK HULK TELL EMMA STONE FEELING!
8
DRUNK HULK WANT YOU KNOW THAT DRUNK HULK THINK YOU DOUBLE RAINBOW ALL WAY BEAUTIFUL! NO JUST PRETTY! BUT YOU KNOW! SMART AND KIND HEART! AND IF DRUNK HULK LOT YOUNGER! DRUNK HULK MARRY CRAP OUT YOU! AND YOU HAVE GIANT GREEN CHUBBY FRECKLE FACE KID! YOU AND DRUNK HULK LAUGH ALL DAY LONG! AND GO TO BAR! AND PLAY AWFUL TRIVIA GAME ON TV! AND YOU PAY DRUNK HULK TAB! BECAUSE IT TOO BIG TO FAIL! AND LATER! SEXCITEMENT!
EVERYDAY FOR REST OF YOU LIFE! YOU THANK GOD DRUNK HULK WAS APPROPRIATE AGE FOR YOU! BUT DRUNK HULK NOT! DRUNK HULK OLD! DRUNK HULK HAVE LINE ON FACE! SOMETIME DRUNK HULK TURN GREY! AND IT TAKE DRUNK HULK LITTLE LONGER TO LEAP THAN IT USE TO! THOSE ONLY DISCERNABLE SIGN OF AGE THAT DRUNK HULK FIND SO FAR! YOU CAN HELP DRUNK HULK FIND MORE! ANYWAY! DRUNK HULK JUST WANT LET YOU KNOW HOW DRUNK HULK FEEL! YOU PRETTY SPECIAL! AND DRUNK HULK WISH YOU CONTINUE SUCCESS AND ARTISTIC FULFILLMENT! BUT MOST OF ALL! DRUNK HULK WISH YOU LOVE AND CONTENTMENT! THIS NO WAY CREEPY AT ALL!
Christian A. Dumais interviewed by UGO!
0
UGO Editor-in-Chief Chris Radtke sat down with me with through the magic of IM to talk about all things Drunk Hulk. It was an enormously fun interview for a variety of reasons, and I hope it shows in my answers.
Me and Radtke go back ten years now, thanks to our frequenting the now-defunct Slush Factory message boards. I had the pleasure of meeting him briefly in DC in 2002, and hopefully one day we’ll be able to nerd out over some beers.
Anyway, Radtke asked some fun questions, such as:
RADTKE: Of those three things (“DRUNK HULK” instead of “I”, ALL CAPS and bad grammar) which is the one that’s the biggest pain in the ass?
CHRISTIAN DUMAIS: It’s a toss up between ALL CAPS and bad grammar. Sometimes I have a good joke but it gets lost in DH-speak. Even though I have over 100,000 followers (as of today), I am convinced I would have plenty more if it weren’t for the ALL CAPS, which turns people off.
RADTKE: Fascinating. I never thought of that, but i can see it. Ever hear from Marvel? For better or for worse?
CHRISTIAN DUMAIS: I’ve never heard from Marvel, not at all. I’m just happy they’ve been kind enough to let me do this. I really do love the character and try not to go too far over the line. Like, I won’t have him curse, that kind of thing. I’m like you, Chris, I’m a Marvel guy. These are like childhood friends to me.
Drunk Hulk Article in the Denver Westword!
0Here is a nice write up about Drunk Hulk in the Denver Westword by Bree Davies. It’s always a nice surprise when people take the time to give Drunk Hulk some attention in the press.
DRUNK HULK is possibly a one-of-a-kind Twitter profile — the fictional character (created and existing solely for Twitter) uses the 140-character format to take big topics on in a simplistic way, expelling fairly complex thoughts using clunky sentences.
5 for Thursday! With Drunk Hulk!
6
Drunk Hulk by @BeckINTL!
With nearly 100,000 followers on Twitter, Drunk Hulk has become the Internet’s little Hulk that could, offering cutting edge news and pop culture observations as only he can.
Every Thursday, we will throw Drunk Hulk five questions asked by his readers. If you have a question for Drunk Hulk, feel free to ask him through Twitter or leave it here in the comments, and maybe he’ll answer it next week. Thanks for stopping by.
1. There have been a lot of celebrity deaths lately. Did any of them affect you?
CREATOR OF MAD LIBS DIE RECENTLY! DRUNK HULK FEEL ADJECTIVE! AND DID LOT OF VERB!
2. How do you keep your zest for life?
WHENEVER DRUNK HULK TIRE OF LIFE! DRUNK HULK EAT DIFFERENT KIND OF CEREAL!
3. You seem to get confused often. Does this bother you?
YES! LIKE TIME DRUNK HULK PACK SUITCASE! GET ALL DRESS UP! ONLY FIND OUT CANDYLAND JUST STUPID BOARD GAME!
4. A lot of people on Twitter confess to learning about the latest news from you. How do you feel about that?
DRUNK HULK PROUD BE YOU TRUST NEWS SOURCE! THAT SAID! IT MUST BE DIFFICULT FOR REPORTER BE OBJECTIVE! ESPECIALLY WHEN EVERYONE SAY YOU KANT!
5. What do you think of the kissing couple from the Vancouver riots?
DRUNK HULK BE MORE IMPRESS IF THEY IN WAR ZONE IN AFGHANISTAN! YOU MAKE OUT FOR FIVE MINUTE THERE! THEN DRUNK HULK THINK YOU EARN IT!
WHO?
Drunk Hulk started on Twitter in October 2009 and has since become an internet sensation with over 145,000 followers. He has been featured in various print and online publications like TIME, Huffington Post, NPR, MTV and more.
Both BuzzFeed and Paste Magazine listed Drunk Hulk as one of the best Twitter feeds of 2011.
The creator behind Drunk Hulk is Christian A. Dumais, an American writer and university lecturer living in Wrocław, Poland.
BOOKS
“I absolutely loved this book. EMPTY ROOMS LONELY COUNTRIES is bittersweet and touching, with some really funny bits . . . There are moments of sagacity and wisdom like I’ve rarely seen before, but it’s oh so sad – heartbreakingly, hauntingly, beautifully so . . . easily one of the my top ten favorite books of all time.” - TAMPA BOOK BUZZ
“[COVER STORIES] hints at the future of the short story." - NEW MYSTICS REVIEWS
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